A/N: Yeah, I know I haven't updated in a while, but I've been so bogged down with homework and practice, it's been insane. Please review. Oh, and by the way, I made the team!
"Adderpaw," a voice called, bringing him forth from the dredges of a good dream. The voice called again, and it was followed by a harsh prod in the flank.
The tom lashed out with his paw. "Go away, Boulderpaw. I need sleep, ever since Emberfoot had been making me do laps, I've been tired…"
The prodding didn't stop, and neither did the voice, which grew agitated. "Fine," Whitepaw huffed. "Onestar is holding a Clan meeting, so I guess that you won't be attending it."
Adderpaw's eyes flew open. "Whitepaw? What are you doing in the apprentice's den? You sleep in the medicine den. Onestar's having a Clan meeting?"
The words were said so fast that Whitepaw didn't have enough time to comprehend what was said, let alone answer. He glanced into the medicine cat's eyes, which were wide in fear, and knew all that he had to. He shook the sheep pelt out of his fur, and followed the tom into the center of camp.
"I have suspected as much," Onestar began, the whole Clan focusing on him. They looked to him for hope, and banishments of their worst fears.
"They won't come back," he whispered, but all heard. Yowls erupted from all, but a bloodcurdling screech came from the nursery. Nightcloud watched with large eyes, her kits huddled beneath him.
"They took him," she spat. "They will pay, and I will get him back so that he can spend more time with our kits." She stood up, her tail lashing, ready to go out of camp.
Adderpaw stopped her, however, after a sharp nudge from Ashfoot. "Don't," he whispered, trying to keep her in the same place. "RiverClan reported that they killed Hollowclaw, and the cats we have sent are probably dead by now."
She hissed in his face and clawed at Adderpaw. "Don't tell me what to do! It's even worse, then, if he's dead."
Onestar growled from Tallhill. "No cat shall go to their camp tonight. Instead, we shall send a small patrol to RiverClan to see if their cats have returned. To be sure, we will send out one to ThunderClan and ShadowClan also."
"Who shall go?" Sunstrike called her eyes wide in excitement. However, Adderpaw could scent her fear, contradicting her expression.
"To RiverClan shall be Ashfoot, Owlwhisker, and Adderpaw. To ThunderClan, Sunstrike, myself, and Leaftail. To ShadowClan shall be Weaselfur, Boulderheart, and Swallowtail. Understood? Then move," Onestar mewed, jumping down from Tallhill and leading his cats towards ThunderClan territory. Ashfoot motioned with her head, and Adderpaw followed closely behind the experienced she-cat.
The thought of going directly to the killer's camp made shivers race up and down Adderpaw's spine, but it was truly worth it. Sunstrike would see how brave and smart he was for going to them, and living, unlike Antpelt.
"Stay down," Ashfoot whispered, flattening herself against the barren earth. He did as he was told, and the dirt spiraled up into his nose, making him sneeze. Ashfoot hissed in response, and turned her head towards the island.
A smaller white and brown figure stood next to a gray and white figure. "Ashfoot," Adderpaw whispered in shock. "That's Furzeleaf!"
She hissed, and moved forward on her belly, not trying to attract the attention of the killers, who were apparently trying to fish. The smaller cat, most likely an apprentice, caught a flopping fish with a yowl of triumph, and Furzeleaf congratulated her, a fish soon in her jaws.
They moved off, and the deputy breathed in relief, sprinting the rest of the way to the RiverClan camp.
It seems as though Leopardstar had been anticipating their arrival, as she and Mistyfoot were positioned outside. "We were sent to see if you have all of your warriors," Ashfoot mewed quietly, dipping her head to the leader and deputy.
"No," Leopardstar mewed sharply, keeping her eyes trained on the island. "However, we have seen Pebblefoot teach others how to catch fish and swim. He and the others, no doubt, have been teaching the CometClan cats how to do everything, as they can be the most prepared. No other cat from our Clan has been seen otherwise, living or dead."
Owlwhisker growled, clawing the ground beneath his paws in frustration. "Thank you," Ashfoot muttered, dipping her head once again. Just by her tone, and the way her eyes shifted, Adderpaw knew that she didn't mean it.
Mistyfoot's blank expression softened. "Since you are suffering as much as we are, why don't you take a rest in our camp? There is enough fish to spare for just three of you."
The RiverClan leader snarled her defiance, but the WindClan warriors were already ushered inside the camp. "Take your pick," Mistyfoot mewed, showing them a silvery fresh-kill pile.
Curious, Adderpaw took a smaller fish, and sat near a cave in the edge of camp, oblivious to everything except the tangy scent of fish.
* * *
Fogkit smelled intruders in the nursery. She stood up in a huff. Enemy warriors in her camp. What were the RiverClan warriors thinking?
Glancing back quickly to see Minnowtail and her siblings asleep, Fogkit peeped her head out of the nursery. She spotted three cats, all lean and small. "WindClan," she hissed, her fur bristling in anger. The one thing that made her fly out at the cats was the fact that a tom, small and maybe apprentice age, was eating a fish near the nursery.
"How dare you!" she screeched, and attacked the tom. He yowled in surprise and dropped the half-eaten fish. She attacked with teeth and claws, using battle moves Pebblefoot had taught her. Fogkit was smaller than he, but almost apprentice age, and strength came with her age.
He yowled in pain, but threw her off, and was staring at her with hate in his eyes. Mistyfoot placed her tail restrictingly on her shoulder. "They are guests," the deputy hissed. "What are you doing to Adderpaw?"
Fogkit's ears fell flat against her head. "Guests," she repeated meekly, giving a sheepish grin to Adderpaw, who shook his light gray fur out in embarrassment.
"It's quite alright," Ashfoot mewed, coming up beside the other deputy. "I'm sure other kits in WindClan would do the same thing if they felt there were intruders. We have to leave now anyway. Thank you for your r agreement, that," she looked around before continuing in a lower voice, so quiet Fogkit had to strain to hear, "they aren't coming back. RiverClan and WindClan will unite with the others to get rid of them."
Mistyfoot nodded, and ushered them out of camp with Mossytail and Rushfoot at her sides.
Leopardstar turned to Fogkit, anger still prominent in her amber eyes. "You were right to attack them. They were intruders that I hadn't wanted in camp, but Mistyfoot allowed them. It seems that she is the leader already," the golden leader muttered, heading for her den.
Fogkit looked sheepishly around the clearing again, and exited, excitement running loose through her veins. She could see the WindClan cats on the horizon, and couldn't help but compare their lithe forms to the bulkier form of Mistyfoot, Mossytail and Rushfoot. The Clans were all different, but the same. They took pride in their differences, but yet this CometClan, the one who stole her father, intended on making them all the same.
Why would any cat do that? Differences were good, especially if they allowed your Clan to live. Rogues were different, though. They didn't have any adaptations to live by, just their own skill in hunting and fighting.
As if thinking about it caused the smell to come, Fogkit scented a cat scent, so unlike any of the Clans. "StarClan help me," she mewed quietly, looking to the stars. "I called upon this loner or rogue, and if they fight me, I'll be crowfood."
Fogkit sniffed carefully around, pulling the smells over her scent glands. At one point she thought that she saw a fluffy black tail around a boulder, but it was gone so quickly that she brushed it to the side.
Her curiosity and anger escalated, as well as her fear. The scent grew stronger near the tree bridge, and she inched closer slowly, the stories told about FallenClan fresh in her mind.
"Fogkit?" Mistyfoot called, nearing the island and making the she-cat jump. "What are you doing out of camp? You know kits aren't allowed."
The gray she-cat dipped her head in respect. "I just thought that… never mind, Mistyfoot. I'll go back to camp now, I'm tired."
She allowed herself to be lead back to RiverClan, ignoring the jokes that Rushfoot kept throwing in. Fogkit's mind was bursting with the adventure she just had, from attacking Adderpaw to the rogue. Being stuck in camp was boring, but necessary. At any time those killers could come, and a kit was the most likely to be taken.
She nodded quietly to herself, attracting no attention from either of the warriors. Adventures were fun, she decided, and she was going to sneak out more often, since the threat of death was better than sleeping all day.
* * *
Fawnpaw sat with her brother in Littlecloud's den all day, nosing his numerous wounds carefully, and licking the blood away. Not much was left in her life; it was empty. Marshtail was dead, Featherpaw in CometClan, her father dead and her mother not really caring about her. Applefur was sweet, but she wasn't really allowed to visit, the kits were so taxing.
Toadfoot was her life, in essence. He cared for her like the father she never really knew, but yet was strict in his teachings. He wanted her to know everything, to be better than he ever was, and that was what she needed in her life of so much loss.
She nosed his fur again, and was quite startled the he squirmed with her touch. "Flametail!" she cried, noticing Littlecloud near the entrance. The older medicine cat shuffled closer, his age clearly showing in his bones. The ginger tom rushed in, breath heaving in.
"What happened? Is it going worse?" he asked his eyes wide in fear.
Littlecloud shook his head, and then pointed it to the slowly moving body of Toadfoot, who began struggling to his feet.
He finally opened his yellow eyes, and stared at the three cats in the medicine den. "Who are you?" he asked, confusing knitting his brow.
"Your sister!" Fawnpaw meowed, and rubbed against him while purring. He backed away in disgust, though. "Why did you do that?" she mewed with accusation.
"Why? Because I have no clue who you are," the brown tom mewed, taking another step back to ensure himself enough time if attacked.
"You… don't remember… me," Fawnpaw whispered, taking in the sight of her injured brother for the first time since she had found him. His dark brown fur was caked in mud and poultices, all which still bled. The cuts had been ripped open, and Toadfoot made a look of pain when he saw the blood ooze out.
Littlecloud placed his tail on her shoulder. "He has lost his memory for now; maybe later he'll remember something." With that, he ushered her out of the den, and heard him arguing with Toadfoot to stay in the medicine den and that they weren't going to harm him.
She trudged to the apprentice's den, where she fell in a heap. Her whole family was gone, her life was gone, and her brother was gone. Dapplepaw looked at her with concern, but saw the anger in Fawnpaw's eyes so she got up and left her alone.
Fawnpaw knew the true secret as why Toadfoot lost his memory. He had been presented with such a sorrowful life, that he wanted to escape, and the only way to do so while still remaining loyal to ShadowClan was to get lost in his memories. Her only regret was that he didn't take her with him.
* * *
"Mother! Mother!" Eaglekit cried out in frustration as he was jolted from sleep once again.
Patchkit had kicked him, waking him up. "Shut up, mousebrain," he muttered, parting from Brightheart to give the small kit a glare. "It's barely sunhigh; some of us want to sleep." He finished with his little speech and cuddled closer to Brightheart, his small snores soon audible.
Eaglekit heard screeches outside, and deducted that they must be from Dawnkit and Skykit, who were usually the loudest in play. "They should have been named Screechkit and Owlkit," Eaglekit muttered, going outside to join them.
Icecloud sat in the sun near her kits, watching them with half closed eyes. When she saw Daisy's abandoned kit, she pulled him close with her pure white tail. "How are you today?" she asked, purring.
The brown tom nodded, eager to play with Icecloud's kits, but she held him close and began cleaning him.
The motherly act had been lost to him for a while, and it felt nice to be cleaned by this kind she-cat in the sun. Unknowingly, he drifted into a state of unconsciousness with the rhythmic licks on his back aiding his sleep.
"There," Icecloud announced, finally letting the drowsy tom go. "Was that so hard?"
He shook his head, gaining back the playfulness he had before he dosed off. Icecloud watched as he approached her kits and was soon engulfed.
Many times he was thrown out of the play, landing roughly in the dirt, or was pinned. Dawnkit would give him a small look, but Skykit would always laugh.
"If I was you, Eaglekit," she mewed, "I would want to learn more fighting moves. If Dawnkit and I can beat you, how do you think you'll fare against Cloudfall? I would want to get him if he took my mother!"
Icecloud hissed, and soon she was out of the sun and into the shade where the kits were playing. "Don't speak of that to him! He knows already, and I'm sure that not one moonhigh passes when he misses her, but he must let her go. She doesn't want to be of company with him anymore, so he must let her go."
The angered mother picked Skykit up by the scruff, and after giving Eaglekit a sorrow filled look, brought the complaining Skykit into the nursery.
Dawnkit looked shyly at him, and then batted at his face with a paw. He returned it, and soon they were tussling in the shade once more. He seemed to be doing well, although he didn't notice that she was doing it deliberately.
There was nothing to bother him for now, but later, when the weak moon was almost gone, he would have nightmares. They concerned his mother, Cloudtail, the kind warrior he had loved, and many unknown warriors, never at the same time. At the end, however, one thing remained the same. It was the bright blazing object that wasn't a star, warning him to stay away, or be killed.
* * *
A black head emerged near the nursery where Falconkit was drowsing in a pile with all of his siblings, adopted and those he was born with. He shook it off, claiming it to be a hallucination. That is, until it moved, and ushered for him with its tail.
He scrambled up, and carefully went to the cat, which was a pure black, extremely fluffy tom. He smelled nothing like any of the Clans he knew of before, but there was a certain scent to the tom that Falconkit was sure he smelled it before.
"Hello, young kit of CometClan," the tom mewed, winding his long tail over Falconkit's head. Falconkit mewled in surprise, and Whitetail instantly became alert near the fresh-kill pile.
"Intruder!" she yowled, gaining the attention of every CometClan cat focused on the strange tom.
"What?" Cloudfall asked disbelievingly, coming out in a bristle. He spotted the fluffy to, and hissed, his long claws unsheathing and glinting in the sunhigh light. "Why had no cat picked up on his entrance?" he asked his blue eyes cold and calculating.
The black tom chuckled. "Simple. I was born and trained under the laws, rules, and fighting skills you are being taught now. However, I have a certain advantage. SnowClan cats are taught to be extremely quiet and quick as they move, as to not attract attention while in a deep storm, or up high in our rocky mountain."
"SnowClan," Cloudfall muttered. "The other Clans exist?" he asked, making Falconkit snort in amusement. Of course they exist, he felt like mewing. The tom is clearly here.
Again the tom laughed. "Yes, there are three. SnowClan, DarkClan, and StreamClan. We exist in a semi-coexistent life, but there are many wars and fights. I was born, my mother a SnowClan cat, and m father a DarkClan cat."
He took a deep breath, and then continued, as if regretting the part of his life he couldn't change. "I had the ice blue eyes as SnowClan, but the dark pelt, usually black, of DarkClan. Because of my heritage I was exiled."
All were quiet at his tale, but Cloudfall seemed to calculate what he had just been told, and decided it must be true.
"Why are you here?" he asked. Cloudfall jumped down from his branch, and went to smell the tom. "You smell of many moons of travelling, rogue. Also, I want to know your name, so that I don't call you by something as demoralizing as rouge to a faithful warrior who follows FallenClan."
"I never knew my true birth name, as I was taken from my mother and sent to be killed days after birth. The leader of SnowClan at the time, Harefall, deemed that I could be of use to him, to find the 'others' as the ancestors said. I was then named Exile and shoved out at the vulnerable age of 2 moons to find the 'others'."
Indeed, Exile looked rather young, as if he was only 16 moons old, about the age of a warrior. "I came to teach, and when possible, bring back proof that you, the 'others' exist."
"What are you to teach us?" Tawnypelt mewed. "We have quite a lot to learn from each other first."
"Do you wish to move silently in and out, to hunt in the bitter leaf-bares with ease? I thought so," Exile mewed, glancing quickly at each of the cats.
"Indeed, we can learn much from them," Cloudfall agreed. "Featherpaw, get some bedding for Exile in the warriors den, which he can use when it is raining. Exile, would you like to be renamed?"
Exile's icy blue eyes flashed in unease. "No," he finally muttered after a long pause. "A mother is to name her kit only. When I get back, I shall confront Harefall and make him let Vixentail give me a name."
Cloudfall nodded. "So be it," he mewed, jumping back onto the branch and began to stare deeply into ShadowClan territory.
Falconkit went to the tom again, and touched his nose quickly to the long-haired pelt, before dashing away. He knew where he had scented the scent before. His dreams, where many cats walked.
They sent Exile, Falconkit was sure of it, to make CometClan better, and to help them get rid of all of the traitors such as his father.
A/N: How did you like it? I would love to know, so could you just please click the button down there and share your feelings? I'll give you a cookie!
